Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk has said Lebanon may take measures against two Hezbollah officials designated as terrorists by Saudi Arabia for allegedly spreading "chaos" in the region. "The Lebanese government will ask Saudi authorities to provide it with the files of the two Hezbollah officials – Khalil Harb and Mohammad Qabalan – in order to take the local necessary measures," Machnouk told Saudi daily Al-Watan in remarks published Thursday. He said there is "full cooperation" between Lebanese and Saudi security agencies. Saudi Arabia announced through its state news agency Wednesday that it had designated Harb and Qabalan as terrorists over their involvement in spreading "chaos and instability." SPA said Harb was a military commander in charge of Hezbollah's activities in Yemen while Qabalan had been convicted by an Egyptian court in absentia in 2010 for activities in the country. Riyadh had imposed financial sanctions on the two men, including freezing their assets and banning Saudis from any dealings with them, according to SPA. Lebanese Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan, who belongs to Hezbollah, swiftly rejected the Saudi designation, saying "the source of terrorism has no right to accuse others of terrorism."
